Puzzler Answer 1/24/97: The Leaning Car

Ray: A customer called into the shop the other day and he said, "I've got a problem with my car. I don't know what's going on, but I pulled it out of the driveway this morning and parked it on the street and the car is leaning to the rear and to the right." So he said, "Something's wrong with the right rear." He said, "I must have broken a strut or something. A couple of months ago you guys told me I needed new struts and they were worn out and I think that's the problem." And I said, "No, no, no. Worn out struts would never cause this to happen. You have a broken spring." He said, "Gee, I crawled under there and the part of the strut that holds the spring doesn't look broken and I'm afraid to drive it, so I'm going to tow it in." So tow it in he does. And sure enough, it arrives at the shop, comes off the tow truck and the...

Tom: Is this guy's name Kramer?

Ray: It's leaning back and to the right and I drive it into the shop and take a peek and I don't see anything broken either. I say "Gee he must have a broken spring." Then I forgot about the car. Hours later, it's level and I realize that he was right that he needed new struts. What happened?

Here's the answer:

The struts were frozen and just needed to thaw out.

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